I have a bunch of old tools from my grandfather. They were rusted and grimy. I clean them then removed the rust with evaporust, then used gun blue to restore finish/color. At that point you can wax or oil them for preservation.

I reserved a section of pegboard over the workbench to display them and use a few regularly.

quote:

Originally posted by bryan11:
I've removed rust from squares and other tools with by soaking them overnight in muriatic acid. It's generally near paint stripping chemicals at the hardware store. Another approach is to set up an electrolysis tank with an old battery charger or power supply. That takes a bit more time but works as well.

What I haven't figured out yet is how to paint the engraved numbers and measurement marks to get clean results.

Dykem. Blue or red.

Once the rust is gone maybe this will help on restoring numbers/lettering:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adKlF5oqpjw

Fast forward about 25 seconds!

quote:

Originally posted by motorheadjohn:
I have a bunch of old tools from my grandfather. They were rusted and grimy. I clean them then removed the rust with evaporust, then used gun blue to restore finish/color. At that point you can wax or oil them for preservation.

I reserved a section of pegboard over the workbench to display them and use a few regularly.

Get some BRIWAX and apply to them. BRIWAX is fantastic on wood and metal.

I met a 76 year old local guy who had spent his entire adult life collecting what he referred to as "The Tools That Built America", in his words.

He had an entire medium size building holding these items, it's a shame he never opened it as a museum. I'll wager he had at least a couple million dollars there when he began to liquidate things.

I was admiring how beautiful the wood and metal looked and that's when he showed and explained to me how to do that.

If you are near a WoodCraft Store they carry it, or you can just search in your area. Try a can of the clear to start.